Botticelli $4.6 Million Follows Martini Record at Sotheby’s

"Madonna and Child with the Young Baptist'' by Alessandro de Mariano Filipepi, called Botticelli and Studio fetched $4.6 million at Sotheby's today. It's part of the Old Masters auction week in New York. Source: Sotheby's via Bloomberg

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Sotheby’s Old Masters sale in New
York today racked up a few high prices after the early record
set for a Simone Martini.

“Madonna and Child with the Young Baptist,” attributed to
Botticelli and his studio, fetched $4.6 million, well over its
estimated range of $1 million to $1.5 million. A few lots later,
“Saint Jerome in the Wilderness” by Fra Bartolommeo soared past
its high estimate of $2 million to sell for $4.9 million.

The fireworks subsided as “Lucretia,” a painting by Lucas
Cranach the Elder of a Roman noblewoman who committed suicide
after being raped, went for $5.1 million, within the presale
estimate of $4 million to $6 million. Painted around 1510, it
depicts a sad-eyed woman with one breast exposed and pointing a
dagger at her belly.

A Canaletto view of Venice’s Redentore and San Giacomo
churches went for $5.7 million, also landing within its presale
range of $5 million to $7 million -- the highest estimate in the
sale. The painting came from the estate of Lady Irene Forte,
whose late husband, Charles Forte, founded the Trusthouse Forte
hotel and restaurant group.

Earlier, “The Virgin Annunciate,” a small 14th-century
oil panel by Siena-born Martini (circa 1284-1344), fetched $4.1
million, edging past its presale estimate of $3 million to $4
million. The artist’s previous record of $418,000 came at
Christie’s in 1991, according to Artnet.

Three telephone bidders vied for the work in a packed,
quiet sales room. It was one of the oldest lots in this week’s
Sotheby’s auctions. Painted on a gold ground, it shows a
startled Madonna in a flowing deep-blue cloak.

The work was part of a diptych, according to Sotheby’s. Its
left side would have depicted the angel Gabriel announcing the
news of the Virgin’s coming motherhood.

Martini painted several Annunciation pieces, the most
famous of which is currently in the collection of the Uffizi in
Florence.

The auction is part of the Old Masters week at Christie’s
and Sotheby’s, expected to bring as much $194 million.